Baby jumper



'Uivrrnn sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

J. ySILAS BROYVN, OF GREEN POINT, NEW YORK.

BABY JUMPER, COUCH, AND CARRIAGE.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 30,717, dated November 27, 1860.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, J. S. BROWN, of Green Point, in the county of Kingsand State of New York, have invented a Universal Baby- Tender; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, `and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, is aperspective view of the baby tender when suspended and used as a babyjumper. In this figure the back of the seat and the table are placed ona plane with the seat so as to form a couch for allowing the child tolie down. Fig. 2, is a perspective view of the baby jumper, with thetable and back of the seat arranged for sitting the child up. Fig. 3, isa perspective view of the baby tender, with the table removed and theparts arranged and mounted on a box, for forming a chair seat. In thisarrangement the parts are not suspended. Fig. t, is a perspective viewof Fig. 3, mounted on a carriage body. Fig. 5, is a longitudinal sectionthrough the frame of the carriage of Fig. 4. Fig. 6, is a longitudinalvertical section through the seat of the frame of the baby tender. Fig.7, is an enlarged per spective view of the pedal used in Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalgures.

Thisv invention I term a universal baby tender, as it is intended toserve by simple adjustment, as a baby jumper a chair seat, wherein thechild may be placed in a reclining or sit-ting position, and a carriage,wherein the child may be moved about as in the common carriage, in allof which changes ample provisions are furnished for making the childcomfortable, and supplying its wants.

The nature of my invention consists, firstly, in constructing aquadrilateral framework, for holding the baby, of four upright posts, ofa suitable length and strength, which are secured at the bottom ends toa suitable seat, and at the top ends to a covering, or canopy; saidframe has also two side boards secured to the upright posts, which areelevated above the bottom of the seat a suitable distance, and used toprevent the child from falling sideways, out of the frame, andto'receive and -support an adjustable back for the seat; and also anadjustable table, all as will be hereinafter described, said frame beingso constructed that it may be suspended by suitable cords attached tothe four top ends of the uprights, and the child thus supported in theframe in a safer and more steady manner than in baby jumpers heretoforeused. Secondly, it consists in a novel manner of attaching the back ofthe seat to the aforementioned side boards of the frame, whereby saidback may be adjusted forward or backward within the frame, and by theuse of back straps attached to the back, this back may be adjusted andset at any desirable inclination as will be hereinafter described.Thirdly, in the employment of a post of any suitable design, placed infront of the seat, or bottom, of the frame, and secured thereto, by aspring bolt, for preventing the child from slipping oif the seat, aswill be hereinafter described. j

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, A, A, A, are four upright posts, B', is

Aa cover, B, is the bottom or seat, with a hole through it, `and C, C,are two wide side boards which are secured to the four posts A, a shortdistance above the seat B. These parts are strongly secured togetherforming a quadrilateral `frame-work, which may be trimmed and ornamentedin any desirable manner. This frame is made about twice as high as it iswide, and its width-is about equal to its breadth. The top ends of thefour posts A, project through the cover B, and to these projecting endsof the posts, four cords a, a, a, a, are attached, which cords are eachtied to a suitable ring a', so that the ring will be in a line drawnvertically through the middle of the frame, when this frame issuspended. The two side boards C, C, are secured to the inside of thefour posts A, a short distance above the seat B, so as to allow thedress of the child to be drawn out under these boards C, C. On theinside of each side board are cut several grooves a2, which grooves areparallel with the seat, and extend about half the length of these boardsC, C, and the object of these grooves, is to receive and support a tableD, represented in Figs. 1, and 2, and to allow this table to be adjustedup ,or down, or horizontally. There are two other grooves Z9, formedalong each side of the seat B, for receiving and holding the table D, ona plane with the seat, when this table is usedto form a part of a couchon which the child may lie down, as represented in Fig. 1.

E, is an adjustable back to theseat B, which is made adjustable in twoways; it may be moved forward in the following manner; c, c, are tworight-angular spring arms, which are secured to the bottom, and on eachside vof the back E. These arms 0, c, are made of spring rods whichproject out from each corner, or side of the back E, and their ends litinto holes e, e, e, which are made on'fthe inside of the side boards C,C, near the lower edge of these boards. As the arms c, c, project beyondthe sides of the back E, and as the back is made to fit closely betweenthe side boards, it is necessary7 to press the arms c, c, toward eachother, in

order to admit the back between the side boards, and when the back isthus admitted the ends of the arms will be forced into one of the holese, e, on each side of the Vside boards C, C. The holes e, c, e, extendin rows from the back ends of the side boards toward the front ends andby pressing the ends of arms c, c, toward each other the lower end ofthe back E, maybe moved as far as desirable toward the front of the seatB, and again attached to the side boards as before described. 'Thisattachment of the back E, with the frame will form pivot bearings forthe back and allow its upper .end to be set at any desirable angle withthe plane of the seat, the straps f, f, which are secured to each sideof the back E, and attached to buttons on 'the two back posts A, A, areused to adjust and to secure the back to the desired angle. These strapsf, f, are sufciently long to allow the back to be placed, and secured inthe position represented in Fig. 1, in which position it serves inconjunction with table D, and seat B, to form a couch.

The back of the seat, the seat, and the table (or shelf) are eachsuitably cushioned to form a soft couch and to protect the child frominjury. The seat B, is furnished'with two cushions g, and h, one ofwhich, g, has a hole through it to allow the child to use a chamber, aswill be hereinafter described.

F, is a post which may be carved, so as to form any desirable figure.This post has a wide tenon z', projecting from its lower end, as shownin Fig. 6, which tenon passes through a hole cut through the seat, 'nearthe front edge and at about the middle thereof.

A spring bolt j, which is made of a spring rod, secured to the bottom ofthe seat, is used to secure the post F, in its place, the bolt passingthrough the tenon portion z', and into the front part of the seat thussecures this portion (z'); a portion of the spring bolt is curveddownward as represented in Fig. 6 and serves to some extent to break thefall of the frame when it is used as a f baby jumper and without a pedalas shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

7c, 7s, are two straps which are used as shown in Figs. 1, and 2, forsupporting the extreme end of the table D, when it is used both as atable and as a part of the couch. In Fig. 3, G, is a box, which iscomposed of three inclined sides, a bottom, and a perpendicular side,which latter is the front of the box, and this side has la foot boardII, which is hinged near the bottom of the box, and made to shut upclose to its front side, as shown in Fig. l, or thisV foot board H, maybe set as shown in Fig. 3. The bottom onl the frame of Figs. 1 and 2 isfitted into the top of box G, and the frame is secured to this box bythe side straps I, o`r in any other suitable manner which will admit ofa simple and ready attachment or detachment. The frame, when it is thusmounted on the close box Gr, forms a chair which box may be furnishedwith casters, secured tothe bottom corners of the box Gr, so that thechild can be easily moved about the floor while in its seat. Or theframe with its box G, attached to it may be set on the body of a smallcarriage as shown in Fig. 4L, and secured to it by means of the strapsI, I. The carriage body is mounted on springs and wheels and furnishedwith a tongue J', and a prop J. The floor K, of the carriage is hingedat its front end to the front part of the reach L, as shown in Fig. 5;and the springs 7c, coiled around stilfemng posts are used to give aneasy motion to the child.

N, is a common coiled spring, of any suitable'length and of a strengthsuicient to sustain the frame shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.The top end of this spring N, has a ring a, secured to it and the bottomend is secured to a strong leather strap N, in any suitable manner; astraight metal rod p, is fastened at one end to the ring n, passes downthrough the spring N, and projects below it some distance, and on thislower end of the rod p a hook r, is formed which hook prevents thespring N, from being drawn out beyond its capacity to recoil, the hookedrod p, therefore preserves the spring from injury through carelessnessof servants or others operating the baby jumper. The lower end of thespring N, is secured to the ring a, to which the four cords a, a, a, a,are attached, through the strap N', which is provided with a buckle andhook that will allow the strap to be shortened or lengthened atpleasure.

In Figs. 1 and 7, P, represents a pedal which rocks on a fulcrum at s,and which is operated by the foot so as to give an up and down motion tothe baby-jumper; at the opposite end of this pedaL-to that on which thefoot is held-, a cross piece S, is attached, by a swivel joint, and toeach end of this piece S, a long strap T, is secured. These straps T, T,are carried up each side of the frame, and attached to the sides ofcover B, by buttons and holes. This piece S, referred to may be made ofany suitable wood or metal and its ends are curved upward as shown inFig. 7, so that when the baby jumper is pulled down, by pressing withthe foot on the pedal, its bottom will strike the curved ends of thepiece S, which will prevent the concussion that would be occasionedshould the bottom strike the floor or any unyielding body. The end ofpedal P, is pivoted at the middle of the spring bar S. By carrying thestraps T, T, up each side and attaching their ends at or near the top ofthe frame the pedal movement will give a more steady up and downmovement to the frame than if the straps T, were attached to the lowerpart of the frame.

The operation of the entire contrivance is as follows: As a baby jumperthe frame is suspended as represented in Fig. l, from the ceiling of aroom, or if desirable from the center of a support as represented in thedrawings. The strap N', is adjusted so as to elevate the bottom of theframe the proper distance from the floor, and if desirable the back E,is let down on a plane with the seat and the table D, is placed in thegrooves b, b, so as to bring it, also, on a plane with the seat. Theseat B, being cushioned, and the back and table also cushioned theirarrangement as now described will form a comfortable bed, o1' couch uponwhich the child may lie down. The pedal P, is now attached to the babyjumper, by means of the straps T, T, and by giving P, the common pedalmovement the child may be jumped up and down, at the same time, thepivot by which the spring bar S, is connected with the pedal P, willallow the frame, with the child to be turned around, without moving thepedal from its place. To sit the child up in this baby jumper, the baclrE, is first set at the de' sired angle by shortening the back straps f,f, the child is then prevented from falling forward by the table D,which is now placed in the grooves a2, in the side boards C, C, andmoved toward the child until the inner edge (which is cushioned) touchesthe childs breast, the straps 7c, 7c, will prevent the table when thusarranged from slipping away from the child, and the table, besidesserving to prop the child up, can be used for holding play-things etc.Vith this arrangement of the back and the table the central post F, isused, which, being between the childs legs and projecting up somedistance from the seat will prevent the child from slipping off thefront of the seat and under the table D. This post F, is removed fromthe seat when the back and table are arranged as represented in Fig. l.

Fig. 2, shows the back and table arranged for sitting the child up; andshould the child be old enough, the pedal P, with its attachment may beremoved from the frame, and the child may move itself by pushing withits feet upon the iioor, the frame of course being adjusted at theproper height from the floor. Or with the arrangement shown in Fig. 2the child may be swung back and forth.

In Fig. 3 the cords a, a, a, a, are, with their attachments forsuspending the frame, removed, and the bottom of the frame is fittedinto the top of the box G, which box is made any convenient height, andthe frame is strapped to this box by the side straps I, I, forming avery pretty and comfortable chair, in which chair the child may use achamber pot inclosed within the box G, by removing the cushion It; inthis arrangement the table D, may be used or not as it may be founddesirable. Instead of the table D, the common strap may be stretchedacross the front posts A, A, to prevent the child from falling out ofthe chair. The board I-I, is now used for the childs feet to rest on,and the post F, is employed as in Fig. 2. A stationary couch may bereadily formed in this case, by removing post F, and arranging the tableD, and back E as described in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 shows the arrangement of Fig. 3, applied to a carriage body,forming a complete carriage, in which the child may be drawn about as inany common carriage.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The frame for holding the baby, composed of four posts A, A, A, A,bottom and top B, and B, grooved and perforated side boards C, C, forsupporting respectively the back E, and table D, all arrangedsubstantially in the manner herein described.

2. The spring arms c, c, and straps f, f, in combination with the postsA, A, and perforations e, e, e in the side boards C, C, as and for thepurposes herein set forth.

3. The post F arranged'as set forth, and secured to the seat by a springbolt j, and tenon i, as, and for the purposes herein described.

J. SILAS BROWN.

Witnesses:

M. M. CRoMr'roN, JAMES LAIRD.

